


Persona Ronpa 4

by kittyissac



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Persona 4
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Be gentle, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gen, My First Fanfic, Work Up For Adoption, but not really, everyone dies, pretty much goes along with Dangan Ronpa plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-04-12 15:07:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4484060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittyissac/pseuds/kittyissac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yosuke Hanamura has been accepted into Hope's Peak Academy, a school for the best of the best in the country. What new adventures await him here?<br/>Beta'd(And pretty much co-written) by MechanicalWasp.<br/>Edits should hopefully come at least one every two weeks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Despair Academy

An enormous academy towered over the small town’s central shopping district. Hope's Peak Academy, a school settled in the tiny town of Inaba, made for the best of the best high school students in Japan. There was no application process for the school as all students were scouted by the academy. The only qualifications you must meet is that you are a high school student, and that you excel in all subjects. Yet here I am.

My name is Yosuke Hanamura. I don’t really have any special talents, I’m not a mutant like in those American comic books, nor am I really that great in school. The only reason I’m here is because my dad owns the company Junes. He actually was only a store manager, but he quickly became the CEO after the previous one was found stealing from the company. My dad says I’m going to inherit the company once he retires. That’s how I got my title: The Super High School Level Junes Heir. That was it. The only thing spectacular about me was that I was going to inherit a company that was putting many small stores out of business.

I stood in front of the school gates, more nervous than I’d ever been in my whole life. I’d read a lot about my fellow students from the school’s online thread. There were fifteen other students in total that were entering the same class as me, each of them far more amazing than myself.

The first student I’d read about was Rise Kujikawa, better known by her stage name, "Risette." She holds the title of Super High School Level Idol. Popular both by teenagers and grown men, she’s the lead singer in a popular girl group and enjoys fame nationwide.  
The second I’d read about was the Super High School Level Basketball Player. He’d carried his team into the finals single-handedly and was already being scouted by several pro teams.  
Next was the Super High School Level Supermodel, who has appeared on many magazines and is a role model for girls everywhere.

Along with those three were the Super High School Level Innkeeper, Brewer, Kung-fu Fighter, Creep, Detective, Attendant, Actress, Soccer Player, and so on. Nothing but amazing people who made me realize my own flaws.

I feel like a sheep in a lion’s den.

The thing is though, I can’t find any information about some of the other students on the list, besides myself. I started to hope “maybe they’re like me, with no real talent to speak of,” so that I wouldn't be so alone.

I honestly should have rejected the offer to go to this school, but after hearing that whoever graduates that school is guaranteed success in life, I couldn’t resist. So here I am. Standing in front of the school, awaiting my impending doom.

Gathering up all my courage, I stepped into the entrance hall. There was no one there. I checked my phone and groaned. I was almost an hour early. However, as soon as my foot crossed the threshold, my vision started to spin and mix together like one of those Western music videos from the 70s. Then… Darkness.

Prologue: Welcome to Despair Academy.

Huh?  
“Where am I?” I woke up on a hard desk in an unfamiliar classroom. My neck was sore, and my face was slightly sticky from drooling in my sleep. I wiped my cheek with my sleeve and looked around. The room was a simple classroom, with a few exceptions. For one, there were iron plates bolted to the windows. I tried banging on them with my fist, but only managed to make a loud noise which hurt my ears. The plates were thick and heavy looking. As I continued to inspect my surroundings I noticed the time. 8 o’clock. Had I really been out for almost an hour?

The desk I woke up on had a poorly made pamphlet on it. It looked more like a child’s mockery of one with the poor handwriting and sloppy pictures. It read:

“A new semester has started!”  
"A revolutionary new world awaits you bastards inside these school walls."

Was this someone’s idea of a prank? This didn’t feel right, the iron plates on the windows, the prison like atmosphere, everything just screamed wrong. Stepping out into the hallway, I became even more uneasy. The hallway was bathed in an odd purple light. I made my way to the entrance hall, hoping for answers and there…they waited for me.

There were so many people I could barely handle it. All of them were more odd looking than the last. I was afraid.

“Are you a new student?” One boy asked.

“So you guys are my…?” I asked, astounded.

“Yes, we are all new students here at Hope’s Peak Academy.” A short boy said.

“With you, there are fifteen of us, I think that makes everyone.” Another male with odd, fish-like eyes said.

I looked around at the faces in front of me, intimidated beyond belief. I opened my mouth to say something but the words caught in my throat. I cleared it and spoke.

“My name’s Yosuke Hanamura, nice to meet you all. I-I don’t know what happened exactly, but I fell asleep and now I’m here so…”

“Whoa, you too?” The boy who had spoken first said.

“Things are getting even weirder.” One girl, who I immediately recognized, even in my out-of-it state, as Ai Ebihara, said, looking very angry.

“This is too weird, like in some sort of game.” The fish-eyed boy drawled.

“HOLD IT!” One girl screamed, pointing her finger at me accusingly. “How dare you be late to this very important event, Yosuke Hanamura! It is very unprofessional!”

“It is not like he had a choice.” A beautiful woman with blonde hair and odd yellow eyes scolded her.

“Hey, shouldn’t we introduce ourselves? I bet he’d like to know what the heck’s going on.” A girl wearing green declared excitedly.

“Are you serious? Introductions? Now? This ain’t the time, man.” A blonde guy who looked very out of place voiced.

“We won’t be able to make any progress if we don’t know who we’re working with, so why not?” Ebihara asked, looking over at him in disapproval.

“She’s right.” The short boy with the hat agreed.

“So we introduce ourselves, then figure out what’s going on, yeah?” A girl with…holy shit, is that Risette?

I decided to introduce myself to the first five people I thought of, but first, what the hell is that giant thing on the door? It’s a huge bulkhead, like the kind you would find in a military facility. That definitely wasn’t there when I came in earlier. Also, why are there guns on the cameras? Shaking myself out of my stupor, I decided to talk to my classmates.

I first decided to talk to Risette. I walked up to her, extremely nervous.

“Hello! I’m Rise Kujikawa, nice to meet you!” The Super High School Level Idol. Wow. A nationally famous idol. Her greeting was cheerful, and seemed to come to her naturally. I had actually met her once before in middle school, before she was an idol but, she probably didn’t remember it.

The longer I look at her, the prettier she becomes, almost like a doll.

“I’m not a doll y’know.”

“Eh?! How did you...?” Could she read my mind? Her smile was mischievous.

“I’m an esper, of course.” Before I could say anything to that, she laughed. “I’m joking, I just had a feeling, is all. But hey, aren’t you Yosuke, from...?” She paused, one hand on her hip and a finger on her bottom lip in thought.

“From?” Did she remember?

“You are, aren’t you!” However…

“Hey! An introduction means an introduction, you can chat later you loafs!” The young fox faced girl from earlier yelled.

“B-But…”

“No buts!”

“Y-Yes ma’am. Sorry Yosuke, we’ll talk later, alright?” With that she walked off with a pout.

The next person I talked to, I didn’t quite recognize at first. However, as I got closer I recognized him.

“‘Sup, I’m Daisuke Nagase.” The Super High School Level Soccer Player. I couldn’t help but stare at him.

“What’re you staring at?” He asked, slightly annoyed.

“N-Nothing, I was just a little surprised, you don’t look like I was expecting.”

“What were expecting, the Pillsbury freakin’ Doughboy?”

“More like Tony the Tiger.” I whispered. I hoped he didn’t hear me.

“I just imagined someone like the more, you know, stereotypical soccer player. That’s how you looked in all your photos.”

Daisuke sighed. “You saw those things? Those were the ‘tourney rules not mine. I’m not doing that again. You wanna know something, I don’t even like soccer that much, never even been to practice. I came here to do something else with my life. Not sure what, but I don’t want it to be soccer.” So the team-carrying ace never once went to practice, guess that’s what you call a prodigy.  
I moved on the the next student, the fish-eyed boy. I walked up to him, but he didn’t seem to notice me. He was staring at one of the other students creepily.

“Um, hello!” That got his attention, he glared at me before turning to face me fully.

“I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end! You may know me as Mitsuo Kubo, but I don’t mind if you use my other name. The Super High School Level Gamer!” I remembered reading about this guy, apparently he was accepted because he had such a creepy and disturbing air about him that the school wanted to document it. But they didn’t tell him that. They told him that it was because of his incredible skill at gaming. His official title was the Super High School Level Creep.

“Yeah, nice to meet you.” I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly. I wanted to seriously get out of this situation. “So… I’ll see you later, thanks.” I walked away as he went back to staring at one of the female students.

Deciding to talk to the fox faced girl from earlier, I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it.

“I’m Yumi Ozawa, my motto is be true to yourself and work hard. I hope we can all get along.” The Super High School Level Actress… I heard she was also a stickler for the rules and called out anyone who broke them.

“Your name was Yosuke Hanamura, right? You should thank your parents for giving you such a respectable name, Hanamura-kun.” She sure is a tiresome girl. I thanked her and moved on to the next person.

“Name like mine, you’ll just forget it… Tohru Adachi.” Tohru Adachi, the Super High School Level Cop. Despite being a high school student, he’s become a cop and has caught several known criminals. I expected someone more rugged, maybe some facial hair and smoking a cigarette. He must have realized I was staring at him, and he grinned awkwardly.

“Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?” Then he seemed to snap. He sneered at me with hatred in his eyes. “Don’t you look at me like I’m some sort of filthy obscene thing!”

“I-I’m not!”

“I know what you’re thinking, I know what you’re just dying to say. You’re thinking about how you’ve never seen such a hideous child before. Laughing behind my back.”

“N-no, I’d never!”

“There’s no use lying! You wouldn’t be able to look at me otherwise. It's fine, I’m used to it.” Adachi was grimacing and mumbling under his breath. I decided it would be best to move on.

The next person I talked to was the girl in the green jacket.

“Sup! I’m Chie Satonaka nice t’meet you.” Chie Satonaka, known as the Super High School Level Kung-Fu Fighter, she’s broken every record she’s come across in the Kung-Fu scene. She’s been fighting since elementary school and has been scouted for several international teams.

“Um, I’m sorry, what’s your name again? I totally forgot.”

“It’s Yosuke Hanamura.”

“Yeah, Yosuke Hanamura or something like that.” She laughed.

“Its not "something like that," it's exactly like that!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, I won’t forget again. Say, how do you spell that?”

“Exactly like it sounds. What’re you doing?” She was drawing something on the palm of her hand with her finger.

“Don’t you know, write someone’s name on your hand, and you’ll never forget it!” She frowned for a second before seemingly giving up. “Haha, I can’t remember how it's spelled, I promise I’ll check later. Nice meeting you!”

“Yeah, you too.” I walked away, slightly upset about that. Was my name really that hard to spell? Stepping up to the next person, the short boy with a blue hat, I smiled.

“Hello, I am Naoto Shirogane. I apologize, I am not very good at introductions. But it is a pleasure to meet you.” He said politely. Naoto was known for being a world class detective who has solved many mysteries. Dubbed “The Detective Prince,” he has many rabid fans due to his small and rather adorable appearance.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Seeing him up close I could sort of see where all the rabid fans were coming from.

“I’m sorry, but you seem to be rather familiar to me. Have we met before?” He asked, looking at me like a specimen under a microscope.

“Didn’t we just say ‘nice to meet you’ a second ago?”  
“You’re right, my apologies.” He tipped his hat slightly and walked off. He was definitely a weird one. Next was the grey-haired guy who hadn’t spoken a word since I arrived. I walked up to him and smiled, hoping he’d make the first move, because, to be honest, he was slightly intimidating with his grey eyes and apathetic expression.

“.........” He stared at me.

“.....” I stared back.

“...........” Still staring.

“Um, can you tell me your name?”

“My name is… Souji Seta.” He sure is quiet. I’d never heard that name before either. Was he one of the ones who I couldn’t find anything about online?

“Uh, so hey, why’d you come to this school?” I asked, hoping to learn more about this mystery kid.

“Why?” He seemed slightly confused.

“Yeah, like, what makes you special? You’ve got to have title right, a Super High School Level… something!”

“Do I have to tell you?”

“Well, no, but-” He gave me a small smile.

“Then I’d rather not.” It’s like he’s made of stone. I can't get through to him at all. Moving on, I saw another foreign face.

“Hello, I am Izanami.” Izanami, the Super High School Level Attendant. Her talent wasn’t as amazing as some of the other’s, but she was still amazing. She’d broken a record for most cars attended to in a single minute… To be honest, it wasn't that great. I’d seen her pictures before but… something was off.

“You look a little different in person.”

“Oh? You’re talking about the photos in the media, correct? They always get touched up for the magazines. Mine are nothing compared to the ones that idols and actresses go through, their eyes are made huge, and their skin polished like ceramic.” I feel like my dreams have been destroyed.

Reluctantly, I started to talk to the blond guy that really looks like he should be in prison and not a school.

“The name’s Kanji Tatsumi. Nice to meet you.” Wait… Kanji Tatsumi? That was a name I knew. Kanji Tatsumi was known for his work as a craftsman. Making knit dolls and clothes that sold for a lot of money. THIS is what he looks like? He looks like he should be in a freaking biker gang.

“What’re you starin’ at, huh punk!?” He yelled. My entire body went stiff in fear.

“N-nothing!” My voice chose this time to crack. Damn you, puberty...I walked away quickly. I next introduced myself to a girl in a red coat. She definitely was pretty.

“Hello, I’m Yukiko Amagi. The Super High School Level Innkeeper.” Her family’s inn was famous for its hot springs, service and traditional style. I couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Nice to meet you.” She hummed and turned away. She was… cold. I next talked with a boy with wavy hair and a bored expression.

“I’m Naoki Konishi.” The Super High School Level Brewer. An odd title, especially for a high school student, but he was able to brew amazing liquor, from what I’ve heard, even at a young age.

“Pleased to meet you.”

“.........” He seemed even more reluctant to introduce himself than Souji.

“My introduction is over. What more do you want? You’re an eyesore, go away,” He muttered. Walking away, he left me with two others to talk to. The one I went with was the guy with blue hair and an easy-going air.

“The name’s Kou Ichijo, let’s take it easy, alright?” Kou Ichijo, the Super High School Level Basketball Player. The poster child for basketball players everywhere and the breaker of several world records.

“Nice to meet you.” It was awkward meeting a guy who could kick my ass at basketball without breaking a sweat.

“Dude, don’t look so tense, how about we take it easy and talk about sports sometime?”

“Er, sure, if we get the time to.” One person left. Ai Ebihara.

“Look buddy, you know who I am. I’m tired, so let’s get this over with. I’m Ai Ebihara, the Super High School Level Model. Nice to meet you.” With that, she walked away.

“Now can we get back to the problem at hand?” Naoki asked.

“Yeah, it's like you said, Yosuke, I came here, fell asleep, and now I’m here.” Rise said, looking worried.

“Eh? Everyone!?” How had the same thing happened to all of us?

“Yeah, happened right after I entered the front hall.” Daisuke said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“H-how is that possible? Everyone suddenly collapsing like that…”

“That’s why we’re fucking stumped!” Kanji bellowed, fists clenched in rage.

“And that’s not the strangest thing. Did you notice the windows in the halls and classrooms? They’re all sealed up by steel plates!” Yumi cried.

“Also, where is my luggage, and my cellphone? I cannot find them anywhere.” Izanami added, looking pensive. At that point, all of us checked our pockets. It was like she said, our cellphones were gone.

“Plus this bulkhead on the entrance. What the hell is going on here!?” Yumi stomped her foot on the ground in frustration.

“Perhaps we got mixed up in some sort of criminal activity.” Izanami looked concerned now.

“Like a kidnapping? You’re saying someone kidnapped us?!” Daisuke had a panicked expression on his face.

“Don’t panic dude, we don’t even know that’s what this is. This might be like, orientation or something.” Kou said, putting a hand on Daisuke’s shoulder.

“You’re probably right.” Naoto agreed.

“If that’s all that is, I’m taking a nap. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Daisuke walked over to the wall and sat down, his head resting against the wall. However, just as our nerves began to calm… it happened.


	2. What is going on?

One of the screens hanging on the walls lit up and a silhouette of what looked like a bear appeared. Then, a voice. “Aaa-Aaa, Mic test, mic test! Is this thing on? You guys can hear me, right? Eh, anyway…” It was an easy-going voice that was highly out of place. It was so out of place I couldn’t help but feel uneasy hearing it. It was like the sound of someone laughing at the scene of an accident, the kind of discomfort that makes your spine tingle.

“Whatever, anyway, new students, please report to the gym for the entrance ceremony! With that, welcome!” The screen turned off.

“......” Izanami was silent for a moment before gathering herself. “What… was that?” No one answered, probably because no one knew either.

“I’m going on ahead.” Naoki declared, turning on his heel and walking out.

“Wait, you’re seriously going?” Ai exclaimed.

“An entrance ceremony, so that’s what this was. These guys are hilarious. I’m going too. I wonder what they have planned next!” Kou announced, following in Naoki’s footsteps.

“Just when I thought I was going to take a nap.” Daisuke got up from his spot on the floor and trudged out.

“Wait, let’s go together.” Naoto cried, running out as well.

“I’ll go too.” Ai proclaimed.

“You probably won’t notice but I’m leaving too.” Adachi muttered. The three ran out, leaving myself and a few others behind. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one who had a bad feeling about all of this.

“Is it really all right?” Rise asked.

“That announcement was quite disturbing, wasn’t it?” Izanami commented.

“We can’t escape danger just by sitting here.” Souji countered. “Besides, aren’t you curious? Don’t you want to know what’s happening?” He added.

“If we don’t go we’ll never know. So we kind of have to,” Yukiko commented.  
It seemed like it. But I can’t help this uneasy feeling. There’s nothing else to do…

I decided to ask the others for some advice first. “It said to go to the gym right?” I asked.

“What was that announcement? It didn’t seem normal.” Izanami asked.

“What the fuck are these assholes planning?!” Kanji bellowed.

“It must be some kind of prank, right?” Yumi seemed nervous, I’m surprised she didn’t head off the second the announcement came on.

“Something weird’s happening.” Rise voiced.

“I understand why you’re uneasy, but we must go and see for ourselves what’s going on.” Souji assured.

“We’ll be in the dark as long as we don’t go on, we have to go,” Yukiko continued.

“Everything’s fine, right?” Mitsuo demanded. We all managed to get to a trophy room in front of the gym. Kanji spoke up.

“Man, I didn’t think Hope’s Peak would be this depressing. It’s like juvie, no, wait, this is worse.” Kanji was scratching the back of his head in thought.

“Why isn’t there anyone else around? Like teachers, or other students?” Rise questioned.

“This is just getting worse and worse,” Izanami sighed, almost looking bored.

“I-I’m sure it’s just a prank. They’ll take off these steel plates later and we’ll all have a good laugh.” For an actress, Yumi was doing poorly in hiding her fear.

“We should be prepared for the worst in any case,” Yukiko commented.

“To hell with this! I’m not scared of anything! Where are those bastards hiding?” Kanji roared as he ran into the gym.

“Tatsumi! No running allowed!” Yumi contradicted herself, running after Kanji. Yukiko and Mitsuo quickly followed after them.

“....” Souji was completely silent. Am I imagining it or is he the only calm one in this situation?

“Where’d the other students go?” Rise asked.

“The atmosphere is this place is quite disconcerting,” Izanami commented. I decided to not delay the inevitable anymore and opened the doors to the gym… what I saw was…

“An entrance ceremony?” That was it? All that worry just for… this?

“See, I told you! Just a normal entrance ceremony dude.” Then, just after Kou said that something completely not ‘normal’ appeared.

“Alright, is everyone here? Then it’s time to begin!” Suddenly, what looked to be a bear mascot jumped out from under the podium and landed on the ground with a large grin on its face.

“A teddy bear?” Naoto questioned, looking confused.

“How rude! I’m no toy, I’m Teddie! And I’m your headmaster!” Whatever was going on was something I’d never seen in my entire life. “Nice to meet you all!” Its voice was light and cheerful, like something from another world. The discomfort I’d had earlier turned into deep-set fear.

“AAGH! It speaks!” Mitsuo yelled.

“Calm down, it probably just has a speaker installed somewhere..."

“Didn’t you hear me! I’m not a toy! I’m Teddie, and I’m also your headmaster!” The thing stomped its foot on the ground.

“It mooooooooooves!” Mitsuo screamed.

“Calm the fuck down man, it's probably remote controlled or something!” Kanji yelled, which seemed to be his only way of speaking.

“That hurts. Cut deeper than the Mariana’s trench. I’m not a silly children’s toy… I’ve been equipped with a long range control system that would put NASA to shame.” Then the bear seemed to snap, its teeth bared and its arms raised. “So I would beary much appreciate it if you refrained from trying to shatter my dreams!”

“Beary? Hasn't that been done to death by now?” Ai asked, looking disgusted.

“Welp, how about we get started!” Teddie yelled.

“And now he’s breaking character.” Izanami sighed.

“Please, quiet in the audience. Ahem, well…”

“And now he’s back to normal.” Yukiko groaned.

“Ahem, first off, let’s begin with a short explanation. You all have been sent here because you are the best of the best! Elites among elites! You all bring hope to this world. In order to preserve that hope, you guys will live out your lives here inside the academy walls. And, well…” Teddie laughed. “The duration of this arrangement is… indefinite. To put it simply, you bastards are required to live out the rest of your lives here inside the academy walls.”

…  
…  
…

“You want us to live our lives here?” Adachi cried.

“Yep, yep. Oh, but there's no need to worry, we’ve got plenty of dough, so all your needs will be taken care of!”

“That’s not the problem!” Rise looked terrified.

“Oh, and just so you know, this school has been entirely cut off from the outside. No one’s getting in or out. So just forget all about that dirty place.”

“Cut off? So you mean those iron plates on the windows and the bulkhead on the door… is to keep us in!?” I yelled. This could not be happening.

“Bullseye! Cry and scream till your lungs fall out, nobody’s coming to rescue you. Enjoy your stay!” Teddie cheered.

“What the hell, man? Even if this is a joke, this has gone a bit too far, especially since the school’s behind it!” Daisuke screamed.

“H-hey asshole, I’ve had enough. Cut the crap now and I’ll even let you say this was a prank!” Kanji roared, looking slightly nervous.

“The accusations just don’t stop with you guys, do they?” Teddie sighed. “Oh well, you'll come around eventually and see that I’m telling the truth.”

“Look, I’m not going to spend my whole life here!” Ai shouted at the bear.

“Why do you guys want to leave? I mean, you came here of your own free will, didn’t you? And now you want to leave in the middle of the entrance ceremony? I mean, it’s not like you can’t leave. You see, I have a special system in place for anyone who wants to leave!”

“R-really?” Adachi gasped.

“Yep! I call it "graduation!" You see, you guys are required to maintain order inside the school, but if someone breaks that order, they will be allowed to leave!”

“By ‘breaking the order,’ what do you mean?” Naoki questioned, suspicious.

“Upupupu, I mean… murder.”

“Come again.” I deadpanned. This thing couldn’t be serious.

“Beating, stabbing, pounding, cutting, burning, crushing, strangling, slaughtering, hexing…the method doesn’t matter, what matters is that you can’t get out of here unless you kill someone.” I think my heart stopped for a moment. The moment I heard the words ‘You can’t get out unless you kill someone.’ a chill ran throughout my body.

“It’s a carnal thrill you can’t get just from attacking someone. The rush of endorphins is amazing! Like I said, you bastards are this world’s ‘hope’ and making that hope kill each other is such a despair filled situation… my heart’s pounding just thinking about it!” Teddie started to laugh.

“What the actual fuck?” Daisuke yelled.

“Yeah! Let us go home!” Mitsuo agreed.

“Let you go? You sound like a broken record...like a broken record...like a broken record. Now listen good, from here on, this academy is your home, it’s your whole world.” Teddie snapped again.

“So kill to your heart’s content! Kill or be killed! KILL KILL KILL TILL THERE’S NOTHING LEFT!” He screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Come on dude. How long are you going to keep this up?” Kou questioned.

“Hmm?” Teddie went back to normal.

“We’re plenty scared, so how about you drop the charade already.” Kou laughed.

“Charade?” Teddie seemed genuinely confused.

“That’s what this is right?” Even as he said that, Kou didn’t look so sure.

“Screw this! I’ve had enough, out of my way, asshole!” Kanji shoved Kou out of the way and bellowed at Teddie. “You missed your chance to apologize douchebag! This shit has gone on long enough!” With that Kanji took off towards Teddie, and picked him up effortlessly, like he weighed nothing.

“Got you ya bastard!” Kanji snarled. “I don’t give a shit if you’re a stuffed toy, I’m going to crush you!”

“It is against the rules to attack the headmaster!” Teddie shrieked.

“Shut up! Let us out of here right now or I’ll-”

“.................” BEEP BEEP

“Giving me the silent treatment, huh?” Kanji growled. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

“....................” BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Say something dammit!” BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Get rid of it now!” Souji screamed. BEEBEEBEEBEE

“Wha-?” BEBEBEBEBEBEBE

“Just do it!” Souji was almost frantic. Kanji must have sensed the urgency in his voice and flung Teddie into the air. The next moment…

BOOM!

“He just exploded?!” Kanji was clearly in shock. My ears were ringing and and the smell of gunpowder permeated the air.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Suddenly Teddie was back and looking very angry.

“You bastard! You tried to kill me!” Kanji shrieked.

“Of course I did! You attacked me first! I’ll let you pass with just a warning this time, but if anyone breaks the rules again, there’ll be hell to pay.”

“How many of there are you?” Izanami questioned.

“Oh, there’s lots of me! In addition to that, there are security cameras all around the school, so if anyone DOES break the rules, punishment will be given! Finally, to commemorate your arrival here you’re all getting this handy school I.D., it has your name, it’s waterproof, won’t break even under 10 tons of pressure and has many other uses besides identification! It also has a list of all the rules in it, so be sure to check them!” With that, he was gone.

“Okay, but seriously, what the fuck just happened?” I asked. Everyone was looking at each other with mistrust in their eyes, beginning to panic, their voices mixing together all at once before Souji spoke up.

“Everyone calm down.” Souji said. “For the time being let’s go over what we know. According to what Teddie said, we have two options. One, live peacefully with each other in this school for the rest of our lives. The second…”

“In order to get out of here, kill.” Ai finished.

“K-killing? There’s no way I could do that.” Naoto looked like he was about to faint.

“This can’t be real! This has to be some kind of joke!” Yumi yelled.

“The problem isn’t whether it’s a lie or not… the real problem is whether someone among us is taking this seriously.” With that, everyone fell silent. It was then that I realized that this was real, that this was how my life was now and there was nothing I could do but hope for the best…

Prologue: Welcome to Despair Academy  
END

STILL ALIVE: 15 students


	3. Move bitch! Get out the way!

“Only a student who kills can leave.” Those words bounced around in my head, leaving my entire body feeling as heavy as the atmosphere. Just enduring that heaviness took all of my strength.

Chapter 01: Lives Cut/ (ab)Normal Days

What finally broke that heaviness was him speaking.

“So, what do you think we should do now?” Souji questioned, his words, sharp as thorns, were seemingly unaffected by what had just happened. “We can’t just glare at each other forever.” I was pulled back into reality by this.

“Y-you’re right, it’s times like this that being calm is the most important thing.” Yumi stammered out, clearly unsettled.

“But what exactly is our mission? We have to have a goal.” Mitsuo pointed out.

“Dumbass, we look for a way out of here, obviously!” Daisuke said like it was the most obvious thing in the world… which it kind of was.

“And in the process, find whoever is controlling that bear.” Izanami added.

“Before doing that, we should look at those electronic I.D.s that bear gave us. He mentioned ‘rules.’ It may be a good idea to check them before doing anything else.” Naoto seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, and was now back to his previous amount of calmness.

“Yeah, it wouldn’t be good if we just ran around without knowing the rules. We might end up in the same situation as before.” Ai stated, giving a pointed look at Kanji. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed. I took out my I.D...As soon as I turned it on, it displayed my name. In the menu there was a button labeled ‘Rules.’ I pressed it.

A list of rules appeared on the screen. In short, they said:

1\. The students will live a communal lifestyle with no time limit inside the school walls.  
2\. The time between 10pm and 7am is called “Night Time”. During Night Time there are places that are forbidden to enter, so please take care.  
3\. Sleeping is only permitted in the personal rooms prepared for you in the dormitory area. Anyone intentionally falling asleep elsewhere will be punished.  
4\. You may investigate the school as you please. There are no special restrictions on your actions.  
5\. No violence is permitted against the school’s headmaster, Teddie. Destruction of the surveillance cameras is forbidden.  
6\. A “culprit” who kills a fellow student will graduate the school. However, they must not let any other student know they are the culprit.  
7\. Additional rules may be added by the school at any time.

I looked up from the screen, feeling slightly dizzy.

“What the fuck is going on?! These rules don’t make any sense!” Kanji screamed out. “They can’t just control us like this!”

“Then why don’t you try breaking one of them, see what happens.” Ai taunted.

“But if he did that, he wouldn’t have any lives left.” Mitsuo commented. That seemed to shut Kanji up. He looked down.

“I’m not dying here. There’s still stuff I need to do, promises I need to keep. So there’s no way I’m dying here!” Kanji’s determination was incredible.

“Can I ask something? About the sixth rule… what do you think it means? The part about not letting another student know.” As she spoke, Rise pulled out her I.D. and pulled up the rule she was talking about.

“It probably means you must kill someone without someone else finding out.” Naoki explained, almost casual. He and Souji seemed to be the only ones here not affected by this situation.

“Why? What’s going on here?” Adachi was clearly panicking.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re all a bunch of sheep who can’t do anything on your own. Just follow the rules you were given and you don’t have to worry about a thing.” Naoki’s words were like knives. How could a person be so cruel?

“Enough of all this killing talk! Let’s just focus on looking around the school now that we know the rules!” Chie exclaimed with determination.

“All right, let’s do this!” Daisuke cried.

“I’m going by myself. I’m sure there’s at least one of you here that has already begun to plot someone’s death. I won’t let that someone be me. I’ll let the rest of you do as you please.” Naoki announced.

“You little-, you think we’re going to just let you do what you want!?” Kanji bellowed. He stalked up to Naoki with a furious expression on his face.

“Get out of my way, you simpleton.”

“Do you want me to kill you!?” Kanji looked ready to act on his words. I immediately ran between the two of them, trying to stop the fight.

“H-hey now! Fighting won’t do us any good!” I tried to reason.

“You trying to be all nice?” Kanji wasn’t listening to reason, however. “Are you trying to stop me from teaching this prick a lesson?”

“Th-that’s not what I meant!”

“Oh, for the love of-Just shut up!”  
BAM!  
The next thing I knew I was in the air. He’d hit me. There wasn’t any warning, I was just… hit. I had forgotten who I was up against. A guy twice my strength and with an obvious anger problem. It was bound to happen eventually, though, my big mouth would get me into trouble, better get it out of the way now, I guess. My consciousness slowly faded and the next second… darkness.

“Ugh… where am I?” Once again, I woke up in an unfamiliar room. “I should find out where I am…” I started to take a look around the room. I found a lint roller, I guess I’ll have to do my own cleaning, a toolbox in one of the drawers that was wrapped in plastic, a notebook, a key with my name on it and a coin in the trashcan for some reason. There was also the bathroom, but… it looked like it was locked. Finally, I looked at the paper on the wall. It read:

“An Announcement from Headmaster Teddie.”  
“There is an anti-picking mechanism installed in the room’s locks.”  
“Duplicating the keys is difficult, so make sure you don’t lose yours.”  
“There is a shower installed in every room. Please note that during Night Time, no water comes out.”  
“Additionally, only the shower rooms in girls’ rooms can be locked.”  
“Finally, I have prepared a small present for you.”  
“In girls’ rooms, you’ll find a sewing kit, and in the boys’, a manly tool set.”  
“You’ll find a handy map of a human’s vital parts attached to the sewing kit, so all you girls can use the needles for full effect.”  
“As for the boys, you’ll find a blow to the head with a hammer can be very effective.”  
“Don’t think! Feel! Let’s enjoy!”

I crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash. I picked up the the key, unlocking my door. I stepped out, intending to look for the others but on the other side of the door was a scene straight out of a cliche manga.

“OOF!” I had run into someone. More specifically Rise.

“Ah- Rise! I’m sorry, are you OK?” She flashed an embarrassed smile.

“Don’t worry, I’m alright. It was my fault in the first place. I should be asking if you’re alright. Kanji did hit you pretty hard. Yosuke?” That’s right, I passed out in front of everyone. The first impression I make in front of these guys is that I’m a weakling. Just my luck.

“Oh, I’m fine!” I said, even though my cheek throbbed with pain.

“Oh, thank God. I was really worried.” She looked relieved.

“Um… can I ask why you were in front of my door?”

“Oh, that’s right. I came to get you. I thought that if you were awake, you’d want to meet in the cafeteria with everyone else. After you collapsed, we thought it would be good to split up and look around for clues. We promised to meet up in the cafeteria to report our findings.” A meeting to report everyone’s findings, huh?

“If that’s the case, then of course I want to go!” Rise led me to the cafeteria. It looked like we were the only ones there. We were alone… alone… in a room with Risette. I was one lucky son of a gun, wasn’t I?

“Hey, Yosuke. I’ve been meaning to ask you something. When we first introduced ourselves… we got interrupted right?”

“Y-yeah. What did you want to ask?” Now I was curious.

“Did you go to Roku Junior High by any chance? Class B at Nekuro Roku Junior High?”

“I-I did but…” Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.

“I knew it! I went to the same school, Class D!” Rise had a huge smile on her face and was practically bouncing on her heels.

Of course I knew that she went to that school. How could I not? Even then she was already very popular, with a “Super” attached to her name. There wasn’t a person in the school who didn’t know her. What surprises me though, is that she knew me. We weren’t even in the same class, I don’t think we even spoke once.

“Huh, is there something wrong?”

“N-no! It’s just, I’m surprised you even remember me. I didn’t think someone like you would remember me.”

“Of course I would, silly! We went to the same school.” She laughed like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yeah, but… there were a lot of other students there. Plus, I’m not exactly someone who stands out. I’m nothing special.” She laughed again and punched my arm lightly.

“Quit it Yosuke, of course you’re special!” That made my heart freeze for a moment. She had a wonderful smile, the kind that calms your heart when you see it.

“It’s so nice having someone I know here. I think I’ll be able to cheer up just by talking to you, Yosuke. You really are wonderful.”

“I’m really not. Compared to everyone else here, I’m no big deal.”

“You’re the only one here who managed to calm me down though! No one else here could do that!” Her words warmed me and made my heart soar in joy.

“Everyone sure is late.” She mumbled, looking around. I looked at the clock on the wall and nearly gasped.

“It’s already seven! I was out for that long?!” There were no windows so my sense of time must be out of whack. Being in this kind of situation was enough to drive anyone crazy. Soon the others arrived. We all gathered around the large table, everyone except.

“Where is that other boy? The silver-haired one?” Izanami asked. She was right, Souji wasn’t here.

“You mean Souji Seta? Wait, he’s not here?” Yumi cried in shock. Everyone looked around and confirmed it.

“Where’d he go? Did anyone see him?” Everyone shook their heads.

“Has no one seen him all day?” Naoto looked concerned. Wait… could he have been? My mind flashed back to Teddie’s words. There’s no way though, I’m probably worrying too much.

“I can’t believe he’s late. Oh well, let’s just start the meeting.”

“I’ll fill you in, Yosuke. Naoki, Yumi and I believe Souji went off on their own after we all split up. Daisuke, Kou, Izanami and Naoto went together. Chie, Yukiko, and Kanji were a group too. And the rest, Ai, Adachi and Mitsuo, stayed together.” Rise explained. I guess I should talk to everyone and see what they found out.

“I went looking for leads as to who the culprit might be, I found nothing.” Was all Naoki had to say.

“Th-that’s it?” Yumi yelled.

“If there was anything else, I would tell you.” He coldly replied. Next up was Yumi.

“I looked around the dormitory area. We each have our own private rooms with name plates on the doors. Each of us all have a key with our names on it as well.”

“It looks like they’re soundproof too. Naoto and I tested it.” Izanami reported.

“We screamed at the top of our lungs, but we couldn’t hear each other at all.” Naoto added.

“There’s also clean showers with locks on the doors. But from what that note, said only the girl’s showers have locks.” Ai continued.

That’s weird, when I tried my bathroom door earlier, it was locked. I talked to Izanami next.

“We looked at the iron plates on the windows, hoping that one of them would be loose, but we didn’t have any luck.” Was all she had to say. I talked to Chie next.

“We looked for a way out. Kanji and I even tried breaking that bulkhead on the entrance, but…”

“No dice. It’s like it’s made of iron, or something.” Kanji said.

“That’s because it is iron, dumbass.” Ai pointed out.

“It doesn’t really have anything to do with a way out, but I noticed that the stairways leading to the second floor are fenced off. I guess we can’t go anywhere but the first floor for now.” Yukiko seemed slightly put out.

Finally, I talked to Ai.

“Mitsuo, Adachi and I didn’t so much as ‘stay together’ as we did ‘didn’t do anything together.’ I’m not going to go run around like a chicken with my head cut off!” Ai yelled. I sighed. Well that seems like everyone… everyone except…

“Rise, what did you do?”

“I looked around the cafeteria, there’s a well-stocked kitchen too.”

“Yeah, but how long is that going to last us? There’s fifteen of us!” Mitsuo cried.

“I ran into Teddie, he said that the fridge restocks itself everyday.”

“Wait, you saw him?” Chie exclaimed.

“I was looking in the fridge and he suddenly jumped out, said that, and disappeared again. He was so fast, I didn’t even see where he came from.”

“A weaponized, teleporting, ninja teddy bear. I don’t know whether that’s adorable or terrifying.” Naoto admitted.

“This isn’t the time to be joking around. Have you forgotten that we’re prisoners?” Izanami seemed upset.

“She’s right! We seriously need to find a way out of here.” Just as Kanji said that, a voice spoke up.

“You’re a noisy bunch. Do you have that much time to spare, or have you not understood the situation yet?” Souji walked through the doors of the cafeteria, his voice level.

“Souji! Where have you been? The meeting started ages ago!” Yumi yelled at the boy. Instead of answering he merely placed a piece of paper on the table.

“Is that?” I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“A floor map of Hope’s Peak Academy.”

“Floor Map?” Where the hell did he get that?

“Where did you-?” Yumi asked as if reading my mind.

“Does it really matter?” Souji asked, his face never once changing in expression.

“Of course it does! I-I mean-” Yumi was sputtering in shock.

“Let’s focus on the map, shall we? As far as I can tell, the building we’re in is exactly the same as the academy construction wise.” Souji explained.

“So, we’re really in Hope’s Peak Academy?” I was shocked. How could this be happening? Is the school really behind this?

“Possibly. There have been some alterations.”

“Alterations?” I asked.

“I don’t know the exact details. I could only find the first floor plans.” He looked disappointed.

“But if that’s true, then… what the hell is going on? Where are the other students? I mean the way this guy talks, it’s as if we really are in Hope’s Peak!” Daisuke yelled in fear.

“Shut up! That can’t be it! Hope’s Peak is supposed to be an elite school! They wouldn’t do some shit like this!” Kanji screamed.

“Guys, would you just stop this? I mean, this has to be some scary initiation planned by the school. I say we wait this out, get some sleep and we’ll all laugh about it when it’s over.” Even as he said this, Kou didn’t look entirely sure.

“You’re a special kind of stupid, aren’t you? One things clear though, we’re locked in a closed space with no where to go.” Ai was smiling slightly brutally.

“Stop it! What do we do? We can’t get out of here!” Adachi was scratching at his head frantically.

“There is a way out. Or haven’t you forgotten? All you need to do is kill.” Naoki reminded.

“This isn’t a joke, you two.” Izanami scolded.

“Look, let’s just calm down and think of a plan.” Rise said, taking a deep breath.

“I have an idea. Do you remember the Night Time rule? Why don’t we add on to that?” Naoto proposed.

“Add on to it? What do you mean?” I asked.

“I propose we add, “You cannot walk around at night time.” The rules here do not state that, but I feel like we would all be more comfortable if that rule was added. It is so we do not have to worry about someone walking around at night.” That… wasn’t a bad plan, actually. Everyone else seemed to agree as well.

“Well, I’m leaving. It’s almost nighttime and I want a shower.” With that, Ai left. Soon, everyone followed in her footsteps. Back in my room, I decided to check my bathroom door again. I tried opening it but it was still locked.

“Why is it locked?” I wondered aloud.

“That’s where you’re wrong!” Teddie sprung out of nowhere and I let out a very unmanly scream. “That’s some reaction, you look like you’ve seen a ghost! I just came here to tell you that your bathroom door isn’t locked! It’s just broken!”

“Broken?” That made sense though, the announcement had said that only the girl’s bathrooms had locks on them.

“I came here to show you how to open it!” With that he walked over to the door. He twisted the handle and then pushed up, the door swung open easily.

“Welp, I gots to go! Die-anara!” With that Teddie vanished.

“Hey, wait- and he’s gone.” I sighed and sat on the bed, face in my hands.

Ding dong, ding dong! A chime rang out as Teddie appeared on the TV on the wall, holding a martini glass. Could he even drink?

“It is now ten P.M.! Night Time has begun! The cafeteria doors will be locked shortly. Sweet dreams!” With that the screen went black.

“We promised not to leave our rooms. I guess the only thing I can do is sleep.” I flopped backwards onto the bed, not bothering to take off my clothes or headphones. I was honestly surprised they let me keep my music player. I guess it was because it didn’t have a way to contact the outside.

I closed my eyes. I was exhausted, my body heavy. Maybe if I went to sleep, everything would be alright when I wake up. This will all have been a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise next chapter will divert a bit from the DR story line a bit.


	4. Short Hiatus announcement

OK guys I'm so sorry about this but I've been having some issues over on my end. I know this only has 3 chapters but for the moment it's going on Hiatus until things get sorted out. I'm really sorry guys. It won't be long I promise.


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